


Stranger Things: Drabbles in the Dark

by Junigatsu84



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Artist Will Byers, Based on a Tumblr Post, Brothers, Childhood Memories, Drabbles, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hawkins - Freeform, Hawkins Indiana, Memories, Multi, One Shot, Short Stories, Tacos, Tumblr Prompt, Will Byers-centric, because I like sweet moments but also like to squeeze hearts, byers brothers, byers family - Freeform, collection, it's just stream of consciousness at this point, little one shots, okay now for real:, or word vomit, somebody please stop me from writing more tags, sorry it's late and the tags are getting weird, story collections, vanilla wafers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-12-26 16:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18285635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junigatsu84/pseuds/Junigatsu84
Summary: Small moments from Hawkins, Indiana.  These are mostly small moments I've collected in my head but don't want to think about too much or they'll become more like the other WiPs on my dashboard.  Little editing has been done on these guys.  I try to just write them and churn them out, or they'll just sit.  Hope you enjoy!





	1. A Photoshoot with Jonathan and Will

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by @theangrypixie and @willel 's Tumblr posts: https://junigatsu84.tumblr.com/post/183809034845/the-angry-pixie-willel-do-you-ever-think

Will followed Jonathan through the bramble. He wished he could still hold his brother’s hand, as he kept falling behind, but he was 10 now and too old for that stuff. Jonathan was good about waiting for him. 

“Pick up your feet slow-poke. We’re losing daylight.” Well, mostly.

Will leapt over some of the fallen branches to try and catch up. “It’s not my fault! These clothes are too big.”

“It’ll look good, though. You’ll see.”

“And when will I even get to see them? You still haven’t developed the last film yet.”

Jonathan squinted. “You going to be a sour puss the whole time?”

Will ran ahead of Jonathan. “I thought you told me to get into character.” He teased. He loved these moments when they could be brothers. Sometimes it felt like Jonathan was trying to be “the man of the house,” which meant getting Will out of bed, badgering him to do homework, and scolding him when he caught Will drawing instead. But whenever Jonathan got out his camera or his music, it was like they were back to being normal brothers again. 

The ground began to dip as they reached the railroad track. The train that ran by Hawkins hadn’t seen a rider in years. It was pretty much for oil tankers and cargo and only passed through in the dark of night. Jonathan used to tell him the low howl of the train was actually a werewolf, and he paid for it. Every time Will had woke from the midnight horn, he’d run to Jonathan’s bed. 

Jonathan took out his camera and began testing it for lighting. Will looked around the tracks, trying to find hidden treasure- something that he could bring back to show Mike and the others. He’d always hoped to find something like a key or a letter, something that could be part of a mystery. Lately, the party was desperately trying to find anything pertaining to some of the ghost stories that circled around Hawkins.

“Hey, Will! You coming, or what?”

Will perked his head up, “Yeah!” He quickly caught up to where his brother was on the track. Jonathan brought out an old newsboy cap that had been Grandpa Horowitz’s and plopped it on Will’s head. 

Jonathan’s voice took on a somewhat distracted tone as he directed Will on where and how to stand. He’d get like this when taking pictures, like he was trying to line up two worlds: the one he saw in his head and the reality around him. Will liked being apart of the process. Even if sometimes it got a little boring when he had to hold the same pose for what felt like forever. Jonathan lined up the camera as Will stood on the track. 

“Okay, now put your hand over your eye.” 

Will did, but quickly realized it wasn’t satisfactory. 

“No. More down.” 

Will bent his head down, confused. This happened a lot, too. Jonathan wasn’t great at communicating what he wanted the shot to look like. He stepped over and gently positioned Will’s head. “Like this.” Then, he went for the hand. He shook Will’s arm, “Loosen it up, you’re too stiff.” Will let himself be posed like a doll. He felt a thrill at the affection. He used to hang over Jonathan so much. But he was grown up now, and too big for that. Still, it was nice. Jonathan delicately placed Will’s hand over his eye. 

“Hold that. Don’t move.”

Will took the orders and stood motionless. Not like a statue, he was loose, like a puppet. Jonathan took a few pictures. “Okay, stay in this pose but imagine you’re a ghost.”

“What kind?”

“I don’t know, a ghost.”

“But like tragic or menacing?”

Jonathan was a little surprised. He'd forget how much Will was growing. In a lot of ways, he still saw him as the little toddler who always seemed to occupy his shadow. 

He smiled, lining up the camera. “You pick.”

Will clutched his hand a little more, like it was digging into his skin and he faked a rage. He had invented a story for the ghost, of a boy being shoved off the train and vowing to derail it by putting pennies on the track. 

Jonathan was amazed at how quickly his sweet younger brother suddenly looked the part. He took several pictures. When he went to pose him again, Will told him about the ghost story, so Jonathan dug out a few pennies from the bottom of his bag and they got a picture of Will’s menacing ghost face laying the pennies down. 

The sun was beginning to go down; it was the golden hour. They’d have to go soon. Jonathan brought something out of his bag. The light was in Will’s eyes and he couldn’t quite make it out. 

“One last set,” Jonathan said. As he got closer, Will realized what it was. 

Ketchup.

“Are you serious?” Will whined.

“Come on! What’s a menacing ghost without blood?”

“I don’t want to smell like ketchup all night!”

“You can take a shower when you get home.”

Now he’d have to take a shower? This was too much.

“I’m not doing it.”

“I’ll make you mac and cheese!”

“That’s what you always make!”

Jonathan paused for a second, contemplating a good enough bargaining chip. “How about this. One whole roll of film with you and your nerdy friends doing whatever you want.”

Will’s eyes lit up. Halloween was coming and they’d all begun making their DnD characters’ costumes. Nancy had even promised to don her old elf costume. If Jonathan took the pictures, he could draw them in scenes from their campaigns! 

“Done!” Will stuck out his hand and Jonathan shook it, grinning. Will let him pour the cold ketchup under his eye. He laid down on the ground and Jonathan put the pennies on his eyes. It was particularly gruesome and Jonathan was both impressed with the shot and worried about what their mom would say if she saw it. 

After he spent the rest of his film, he gave Will a washcloth to wipe off the condiment. He was wrinkling his nose at the smell. Jonathan laughed and helped wipe it off. The sun was glowing around his older brother’s head. Will wished, not for the first time, that moments could be held. Because if they were he’d keep this day someplace special, next to all his treasures, and bring it out when Jonathan had to go to work, or when he was busy with his own homework. He’d carry it with him when the kids at school called him fairy. He’d show it to Jonathan and remind him of how lucky Will felt to be his brother.


	2. Rainy Day Mixed Tape

Jonathan watched their mother through the window as drove to work. It was raining so he didn’t see that she was wiping away tears. He had no idea how guilty she felt having one of her babies watch the other. Or how for the rest of the drive she wondered if it would be better to try to convince Lonnie to come back. She wanted nothing more than for her boys to have a normal life; to feel safe and loved. She didn’t know if that was more likely with Lonnie or without him.

Jonathan watched the car until she was out of view. He felt Will beside him. His small hands on the window sill. They were both still trying to adjust to their father’s absence. Days like this, where they had no where to go, just reminded them of how empty the house really was without him.

A part of Jonathan had been glad for the quiet. He missed his dad, but he was relieved at not having to worry about when there would be another explosive fight. He didn’t have to coax Will out from under the bed, where he would be sobbing, after Lonnie called him a baby or a mama’s boy. 

But he knew Will missed Lonnie more than he’d let himself say. Because, despite how sharp Lonnie’s words were, Will craved his approval. 

Jonathan leaned towards Will. He needed to distract him. “You know what would be a really nice surprise for Mom?”

Will turned, shaken out of his thoughts. He was instantly intrigued, “No, what?”

“If we cleaned up the whole house.” 

Will looked around at the dishes in the sink, the clothes in a pile on the couch. “You think we can do that?” 

“Of course. Tell you what, we’ll play some music and when you hear a song that you like, I’ll record it.”

Will’s eyes lit up. “Really?!” 

Jonathan smiled, “Yeah. Come on. Let’s go put some records on.” They had a big tower with a record player on top, radio, two tape decks, and a speaker. Their parents had gotten in a huge fight when Lonnie had splurged on the sound system. But Jonathan loved it. He dug out some records the cabinet underneath as well as a blank tape. Jonathan also brought out two cassettes he had bought himself. Will picked out the first record, Jefferson Airplane. Clearly influenced by their mom’s taste, Jonathan thought. He put it on and let Will press play. Will’s fingers delicately placed the needle on the edge of the record, it was his favorite part of playing his mom’s records. 

They started folding the laundry. When the first song was about to end, Will frantically said, “Can you record the next song??”

Jonathan hurried to the stereo and pressed record in time for “Somebody to Love”. He turned back to see Will smiling and his hair swishing as he bobbed back and forth to the song. Jonathan stood up and pretended to play guitar as they sang. He cut it out at the end and they went back to folding. 

The day continued punctuated with moments of rushing to the stereo to catch the perfect song and with snack breaks served on napkins so they wouldn’t have to do more dishes. Once the typical chores were done, Jonathan got out the Windex and showed Will how to clean the windows. This was a totally new concept to him but he liked the challenge of not leaving streaks. 

By the end of the day, the house was cleaner than it had been since New Year’s. Jonathan was cooking up tomato soup and grilled cheese, the only thing he knew how to make, aside from mac and cheese. Will worked on a special picture for their mom. 

Joyce pulled up, still heavy with guilt, of feeling like she could never do enough to fix the hole Lonnie had left. She took a deep breath and put on her smile. It was the least she could do for them. 

When she opened the door, she heard a chorus of “Surprise!” She jumped, startled. She saw her two beautiful boys standing in the spotless living room. 

“What is this? Did you boys clean all this??” Her hand was clutching her heart, touched. 

Will nodded, excitedly. “And Jonathan made dinner, too!” 

She looked over at Jonathan, who was smiling bashfully. “Just grilled cheese.” 

Joyce didn’t waste another second, she waved her hand for them to come close and wrapped them up in a big, tight, hug. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you two.” 

Jonathan looked over Joyce’s shoulder at the refrigerator, where Will’s picture was hanging up. It was a picture of all three of them dancing in the living room and they were all smiling. It was the first picture Will had drawn of their family since Lonnie left. He squeezed his mom a little tighter and he knew they would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am currently taking prompts/ requests for drabbles. If you have a suggestion, please leave it in the comments below or in my ask box on my tumblr! Thanks!


	3. The Makeover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nancy catches her brother in her room and exacts her revenge.

The makeover

Mike flipped through Nancy‘s closet while Will stood uneasily in the center of the room. 

“Are you sure we should be here?”

Mike looked over his shoulder. “Yeah. She’s over at Barb’s. She’s probably gonna sleep over there tonight, so we’re in the clear.”

Mike flipped through the dresses and jackets, digging in the pockets. He was looking for a clue, some kind of mysterious paper, some coded note. He knew Barb and Nancy had developed a secret code when they shared notes. He had heard them talking about it before. Mike was desperate to cipher it. 

Mike, Lucas, and Will had started up a spy club. They had notebooks filled up with different codes they were learning, along with notes about different people around town. They were certain that a Russian spy was living in Hawkins. Although Mike knew Nancy wasn’t a spy, learning her code might help him decipher other ones down the line.

“Have you found anything?”

Mike’s search was coming up fruitless. He felt bad for making Will wait for nothing. So, he started goofing around. 

“Not really, except that Nancy has an obsession with pink.” He took one of Nancy’s dresses off the hanger and put it against him. “Ooh! Look another pink dress! I only need one more and then it’ll be just like a Barbie Dreamhouse closet!”

Will snorted. Mike loved making Will laugh. He took another dress off the rack and held it out. “Here, you be Barb.”

Will bit his lip and mumbled, “But… I kind of think… Barb’s always been nice to me though…”

Mike had a sneaking suspicion that Will liked Barb, so he didn’t push it. “Then, maybe Jeanie.”

Will stepped forward. He had no problem making fun of Jeanie. She didn’t really hang out with Nancy anymore.

Mike didn’t know what he was expecting but when Will started talking in a voice 3 pitches above normal, Mike couldn’t keep it together.

Will said, “Eew, Nance! Your brother’s smell like feet! Everybody smells like feet except me because I practically bath in Avon!” Mike was crumbled on the floor in stitches. 

In their peels of laughter, they hadn’t seen Nancy and Barb peeking through the door. 

Nancy was fuming. Not only was her brother going through her stuff, he and Will were making fun of her and her friend! Barb could see Nancy was infuriated and tugged on her sleeve. 

“I have an idea.” And she whispered her plan to Nancy, whose lips curled in a smirk. Barb was truly amazing at payback. 

Mike wiped his eyes from laughing so hard. Nancy burst through the door. 

“YOU LITTLE SNEAK!!”

He shot up. Will froze, horrified. Mike grabbed Will’s hand and tried to make a run for it but Barb stood in the door. They were trapped.

Nancy continued, “What are you doing in my room?!”

“I was just looking for my l-”

“Save it! I know you were snooping around!”

Then, Barb smiled and her voice had a mock sympathetic tone to it, “Aw, Nance. Don’t be so mad. They were just playing.”

The boys looked at each other, uncertain why she would be taking their side. 

Mike apologized, “I’m so sorry Nancy. I’ll never do it again.”

Will added, “Never, ever again.”

Nancy’s arms were crossed. 

Barb continued, “You can’t blame them, Nance. They’re just some stinky boys that wanted to play dress up.”

Mike immediately fired, defensively, “No, we weren’t!”

Nancy smiled, “Oh, yes you were. And I think Barb is onto something. If you want to play dress-up, let’s play dress up.”

Will shook his head furiously. Mike argued, “No way!”

Nancy replied, “Well, the punishment should fit the crime. So either you play dress up, or you let me snoop through your room.”

Mike’s eyes widened. His notebook. Will’s notebook. They were open and on his desk. She would see everything! She’s see the notes they took on her and Barb’s code! 

He lowered his head, embarrassed. “Fine. I’ll do it. But leave Will out of it.”

Nancy crossed her arms. “Nuh-uh. He’s just as guilty as you are.” 

Mike looked over at Will, who had put on a brave face. “It’s okay, Mike. We got caught behind enemy lines. We’ll have to face the consequences.” 

And just like that, Will had turned their misfortune into a game. They were spies that had been caught in the midst of a mission and they were about to face torture to protect their secrets. Suddenly, it was all more bearable. 

Barb lifted a brow. “Behind enemy lines? I wasn’t aware your house was a war zone, Nancy.” 

Nancy replied, “It’s what happens when you have little siblings.” She turned to Mike. “So, we have a deal?”

Mike withheld his hand, “We play dress up AND you and Barb swear to never tell anyone about this ever or mention it ever again.”

“This secret stays in this room. Under one condition: if you ever go snooping around my room again, the contract is breached and I tell everybody.”

Mike nodded solemnly and stuck his hand out. “Deal.” They shook on it. 

The girls walked over to the closet and picked out the most pink and flowery dresses they could find and put them over the boys’ heads. Mike stood rigid, grimacing. This was humiliating. Admittedly, he would rather have had Will here than Lucas. Lucas was really cool in Mike’s eyes and this kind of situation would have been more embarrassment than he could bare. But Mike knew Will would take this to the grave if he asked. 

“Now, have a seat, darlings.” Barb gestured to the window seat. 

They begrudgingly sat down, as Barb pulled up their chairs and Nancy got out her limited supply of discarded makeup from their mom. 

Mike whined, “Are you kidding me?”

“A deal’s a deal, Michael.”

Barb leaned over. “Michael doesn’t really suit him. We should give him a new name.”

Nancy smirked, “How about Michelle?”

Mike shook his head in disgust.

Barb responded, “Oh! That’s perfect!” She held Will’s chin up, “And you can be Wilma!”

Will tried to suppress a chuckle. 

Nancy brought out the nail polish. The bottle in her hand was a glossy blue shimmery color and Mike was horrified as she unscrewed the bottle took his hand and started painting the shiny goop on his fingernails. 

He was felt awful that Will had gotten dragged into all this. It was almost enough that he wanted to take it back to let Nancy look through the notebook. He looked guiltily over at Will and saw, much to his surprise, Will had a small smile on his lips. 

Will was enjoying it? Shouldn’t he hate this? He pondered while Nancy started working on his other hand. Maybe Will had a crush on Barb, or perhaps it was because he didn’t have an older sister, and hadn’t been doted on the way Mike had. 

Mike could remember a time when Nancy and he would play with their stuffed animals together. Before he knew how to read, she would snuggle up with him and read the books she had already learned. There was a time she joined him in playing pretend and making up stories. But over the years that had all gone away. He realized how much he missed it.

He watched Nancy holding his hand, and carefully painting each nail, trying to get the coat of polish on in one stroke. It actually was kind of nice. 

“Is this what they do in nail salons?” He asked Nancy. Now that she was older, Nancy would go there with their mom.

“Kind of. But better.”

Barb cut in, “Oh my gosh, yes! They practically massage your hand. I love when they put the stuff on your cuticles and make them soft! It’s one of the few perks to being a girl.”

Nancy retorted, “There’s a lot of perks to being a girl.”

To which Barb shrugged.

Will asked, “Do you ever see men in there?”

He had asked it so cautiously, as if he was afraid his curiosity, that even asking such a question made him guilty of something. 

Nancy looked at Barb, who quickly said, “There was a guy in there once.” 

Mike looked surprised, “Really?”

“Yeah. You remember, right, Nancy?”

Nancy tilted her head for a second. Barb put her hands up like bear claws and it clicked, “Oh yeah! He said he wanted his hands to look nice on his wedding day. His hands had these thick dark cracks.”

Barb added, “I think he worked on roofs or something.”

Nancy nodded. “But by the end, his hands looked like Dad’s.”

Mike asked, “So, he didn’t get them painted?”

“No. Just trimmed and cleaned.”

Mike nodded. That made more sense. He peeked over at Will, who was looking at the polish on his hands. 

“They look like girl’s hands.” Will said, puzzled. 

Mike looked at his own and realized Will was right. He wondered when they would start looking like men’s hands. When would they get thicker and rounder like his dad’s? Would he even notice it happening?

He saw Nancy open up the eye shadow palette. Mike stared at the little square of blue with distaste. He saw Nancy smirk, like she had won. Mike squinted his eyes. 

“Just do it.” 

“Don’t squint them like that or you’ll get powder in your eyes. Close your eyes and lift your eyebrows up like you’re surprised.”

It felt really weird when she did the eyeshadow. Having a brush on his eyelids both tickled and annoyed him. He squirmed. 

“Are you done, yet?” 

Nancy replied, “Suck it up. This is what you get for going in my room.”

He sighed, “Will, does your brother ever do lame stuff like this?”

Barb jumped in, “I’m sure that Will doesn’t sneak into Jonathan‘s room and go through his stuff right, Will?” 

Will opened one eye. The words seemed caught in his mouth. Barbara was so cool. He didn’t want to admit about how he would occasionally go into Jonathan’s room and look into some of his tins. They were filled with movie tickets, pins, and cool coins. It was like finding buried treasure. He never took anything, but he liked to look.

Rather than confessing, he said, “I plead the fifth.” He’d heard that from somewhere before. He didn’t know what it meant but he thought this was the right situation to say it.

Barb laughed and used a big round brush to apply blush to his cheeks. He was still beaming at having made her laugh. But he also really liked all this attention. No wonder girls did this at their sleepovers. It was kind of fun and felt really nice. He looked over at Mike who still had his eyes closed despite the fact that Nancy had moved onto his cheeks. Will realized he wasn’t supposed to enjoy this and set his face back to normal. He was glad Mike hadn’t seen him smile about it. 

The girls moved into the last stage. They got out Nancy’s brushes and hair clips. 

Barb joked, laughing like a villain, “The transformation is almost complete, my dear Nancy.” 

She smiled, evilly, “Yes! Soon my annoying brother will become a sweet and darling little sister.”

Will felt emboldened and joined in the pretend, “Your plan will never work!” 

Mike added, “We’ll get out of this and stop you!”

“Too late!” Barb said, and with that she took the brush and gently stroked Will’s hair. He involuntarily closed his eyes, upon realizing this, he hammed it up and slumped over like he’d been put under a spell. 

“No! Will! How could you?!” 

Mike was getting a little loud so Nancy shushed him. Mike dropped his volume, suddenly worried about their mom walking in. She was outside in the garden but still. She could walk in at any moment. He closed his lips into a thin line.

“We can keep playing.” Nancy said.

Mike shook his head. “Nah. Just finish up.” He suddenly felt ashamed. Would anybody know that a part of him enjoyed this? 

Nancy didn’t know what exactly she’d done. For a brief moment, they had been having fun. He was just getting too loud. Sometimes she forgot how sensitive he could be. She made sure she was very gentle with the hairbrush. Mike looked at the floor. He had goosebumps on his arms from feeling the brush run through his hair. He’d been brushing his own hair for a while now, but he remembered how nice it felt when his mom used to do it. 

Nancy tried several times to get Mike’s hair into pigtails. She thought it was long enough but little strands kept peeking out and she clipped them back with hair clips until she ran out. Then she started using Bobby pins. By the time she was done, Mike thought here was probably more metal on his head than hair.

Barb said in a cheery tone, “Time for the reveal!” 

The girls stood them up and walked them to Nancy’s vanity. 

When Mike saw himself in the mirror, he was horrified. He looked like one of their grandmother’s Victorian dolls, one that somebody had butchered its hair and drawn on its face with marker. Will, at this point, doubled over with laughter, his little voice ringing like a bell. 

Barb had actually done kind of an OK job with Will. Instead of attempting any type of pigtails, she simply clipped his hair back behind his ears. It almost looked like he could’ve passed for a girl. But Mike was just ridiculous and Will couldn’t hold back. 

Nancy gave Mike a hug from behind, “Michelle, my favorite little sister.”

“I hate you,” Mike glared. Though they both knew he didn’t mean it. “Are we done now?” 

“Give us two twirls and we’ll call it even.

Will offered, “I’ll go!” 

He proceeded to spin himself ridiculously fast, making the poofy dress twirl around him until he fell, dizzy and giggling like crazy. 

“Will, are you actually enjoying this?” Asked Mike.

He did, at least a little. Will didn’t want Mike to think less of him for it. So, he coolly played it off, “No. I’m just thankful that Nancy didn’t do my hair.” 

He immediately covered his mouth and looked over at Nancy, scared he might have invoked her wrath. 

Her mouth was agape, “You were supposed to be the sweet one!”

Mike laughed and got up to take his turn when the door opened. 

Ted Wheeler looked in the room after hearing the laughter and racket to see his son completely decked out in makeup, a dress, and nail polish. 

He scolded, “Nancy! What did you do? Get that ridiculous stuff off them. You wanna turn your brother into a sissy?” He turned to Mike and the little boy could see his father’s disappointment, “Mike, you’re too old to let your sister dress you up like a doll. Have some self-respect.” He closed the door, shaking his head. 

Mike clenched his fists trying to not let anybody see how close he was to crying. He turned to Nancy, “This is all your fault! I didn’t wanna get dressed up in the stupid stuff! Why did you make me?!” 

He stormed out and into the bathroom before anybody could see the tears spilling out of his eyes. He tried to wipe them away and saw makeup smeared on his hand. He had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. When he got into the bathroom, he took a washcloth and tried to scrub the makeup off with soap but it got all over the towel. He was scared that his mom would find out too. 

He wasn’t exactly sure what his father meant by a sissy. He had an idea. It meant a really girly man. And it was probably the same thing along the same lines as a word he’d heard Will's father use. A word that had brought Will to tears, too.

The door opened slowly and Nancy looked in. Mike scowled, “Get out!”

Nancy looked at the washcloth and at the red marks on Mike’s face from scrubbing it off. 

“You’re going to rub your skin raw. Let me get the stuff off you.”

“No! Go away! I can do it myself!”

“Yeah. But you’ll ruin mom’s towels.”

Mike looked down at the cloth, it had pink and blue smears all over. He refused to look at Nancy as he on the side of the bathtub, humiliated. 

“This is all your fault.” He said. 

“You shouldn’t have been snooping in my room,” she snapped back.

“You shouldn't have dressed me up like a girl.” 

Nancy got some baby oil out from under the cabinet and put it on the washcloth. It was already ruined. “If you recall, I gave you the option of going through your stuff the way you had gone through mine and you chose the latter.” She gently rubbed the washcloth on his cheek. “So do you get now how personal someone’s room is? How awful it is to have someone go through your things?” 

Mike was silent. He was still mad. He still felt like he was wronged and that she was to blame. But he knew on some level that she was right. 

She was quiet for a moment, as she gently smoothed the cloth against his face. “I’m sorry Dad yelled at you,” she said with as much sincerity and sympathy that she could. She hoped Mike knew how much she meant it.

“I wish I had a brother instead.” Mike hoped the words hurt Nancy. But it didn’t feel right saying them.

She tried not to let it sting. He was just mad. She huffed, “If you had an older brother, he would’ve pummeled you for snooping.”

“Jonathan doesn’t do that to Will,” he argued.

“That’s ‘cause he more like a dad than a brother.”

Mike looked surprised. “What?”

“Normal brothers don’t make breakfast for their siblings or fix their bikes. That’s stuff dads are supposed to do.” 

Mike thought about that, about Will’s dad, and about the word Lonnie had once used to describe Will.

“Sissy and fag mean the same thing, don’t they?”

Hearing that word come out of her little brother’s mouth sounded so wrong, “Where did you hear that word from?” 

“Will’s dad. He called him that once.”

Nancy’s chest puffed up in righteous anger. “His dad is absolute scum! How could anyone say that about their kid?” 

“But Dad said I was-”

“No. He called you a name but it’s different. It’s the difference between calling a girl bossy and calling her a…” she whispered, “ A bitch.”

He remembered the disgust he had heard in Lonnie’s voice when he’d called Will that word. He thought about the disappointment in his father’s tone. He mumbled, “Does Dad hate me?”

Nancy looked at her brother who suddenly seemed smaller and she wrapped him up in her arms. “Of course not!”

“But he thinks I’m a sissy now!” Somehow that seemed like the worst thing in the world. Even though he still didn’t quite know what it meant. All he knew is the way his dad said it. 

Nancy held him by the shoulders and looked at him sternly. “Do you think he hated me when I played baseball?”

Mike blinked. “That was completely different. Girls don’t get in trouble for being tomboys.”

Nancy’s shoulders sagged a little. Had Mike really never noticed? All those comments their dad had said, she thought that Mike would have started repeating them. ‘There’s no baseball team for girls.’ ‘You want them calling you a butch?’ ‘Those boys play hard and you won’t be able to catch up.’ He didn’t notice how much their father’s words had hurt her. 

“Don’t you remember him calling me, ‘Butch’?”

Mike shrunk a little. “I just thought it was a nickname cause you were tough.”

She said, “Girls don’t get called sissies. They get called butch and it hurts just as much.” She started taking clips out of his hair. Nancy felt anger boiling in her stomach. It was all so unfair. That she had spent a year enduring torment from the boys on her team, a year of her father waiting for her to quit. “It’s all stupid, isn’t it?”

Mike looked up. “You liked baseball though. I didn’t like dressing up.”

“But should you have been yelled at for it?”

Mike blinked. It was just the way of the world, wasn’t it? He was the one who broke the rules, wasn’t he? Nancy was at a stage where she was questioning the rules. Mike was at a point in his life where the rules were unquestionable. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“If Will liked it, would you call him a sissy?”

Mike suddenly flared up, “Of course not!”

“But people would say that about him. Is that right?” 

Mike shook his head. He realized that she was right. But he didn’t know how that worked into his logic. If he questioned that one rule, he’d have to question everything about being a boy and that seemed too big. 

Nancy finished taking the clips out of his hair and she had him lift up his arms to take the dress off. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like himself again, minus the nail polish. 

He sort of liked the spots of color on his nails. “Can we take this off later? Umm... before dinner?” 

Nancy smiled, “Sure.”

Mike was about to make an excuse as to why, but he realized he didn’t have to. And, in that moment he felt overwhelming grateful that out of all the older sisters he could have gotten in the world he had Nancy.


End file.
